“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn …” Alvin Toffler has written.

I used this quote at the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation UAE chapter’s opening event. Although the entire quote is meaningful, I would like to focus on three important words — learn, unlearn, and relearn.

You learn at every stage in life, be it at home, school, university or graduate school. You learn how to behave and how not to. What shall I say and what shouldn’t I say? So much learning is imposed on our minds while growing up — the notion that it is learning by force or by choice is for another time.

But what is unlearning? One of the definitions I found on the internet is “to put out of one’s knowledge or memory”. What an unbelievably difficult task!

Allow me to put that into perspective. My father, a 70 plus semi-retired gentleman, used to cringe on the way I ran certain divisions in our family business. I kept arguing with him this is the way to do business in the 21st century and that his management style and approach was, let’s say, outdated.

I am one of the lucky few where previous generation family members allowed me to operate in a different way to adapt to the ever-changing business trends in the Gulf. They didn’t forget or erase their memories and just accept my management style.

I think that would be such a waste to lose all that valuable experience. What they did is tell story after story of what worked and what did not. Take these examples, superimpose some 21st century techno-commercial lingo to the situation and I found an astounding similarity to how business issues were tackled then and today.

I am faced with a similar situation where the next generation is entering the family business. Do I micro/macro manage them, or leave them to their own discretions? None of the above, I think.

I will stick to a type of mentoring that suited me well in my earlier days — story telling. Let them fail in their own small ways, but at all times have an arm’s length approach to allow me to pull the handbrake when there might be a major financial — or even a minor reputational risk — to the business.

As a sandwich between two generations, I feel it is my responsibility to communicate the changes to the previous generation as well. There will always be resistance to change but we must ensure this open communication between generations remain at all times.

I have seen disastrous consequences between business partners and family business members when a lack of open dialogue creates a ‘lost in translation’ environment. It is sad to see great businesses fail or split up because partners refused to sit, listen, learn, unlearn, and relearn together. I know … easier said than done.

In The Entrepreneurs Organisation, a few members have taken the initiative to launch the accelerator programme where EO members give their time in mentoring and advising budding entrepreneurs. The most common feedback is to keep in touch with other successful entrepreneurs who have more or less ‘been there, done that’.

You will be surprised at the similarity of problems whether you are opening a law firm or a flower shop. Age old challenges of expense control, capital raising options, cash flow issues and human resource management will be present through all business sectors, nationalities, and countries.

Why reinvent the wheel when you can ask a few self-made gurus the magic question: How in the world did you pull that off? The answers that you will receive will probably be unconventional solutions.

Once again, you will have to unlearn your traditional learning theories, assess how that entrepreneur solved that challenge, and relearn new and innovative ways to solve business problems.

The most important learning I got out of Toffler’s quote is that we can all relearn together without disregarding the past. Embrace past experiences of others, create your own experiences at the same time, and I bet you that relearning won’t be so bad after all.

I mentioned to my father that I am writing this article and asked him for suggestions. He said: “Change is good, son … the only constant”.

I smirked and said. “Thanks for walking the talk … and when do you plan to change your ten-year old mobile phone?” The conversation ended there and then — I guess I still haven’t learnt what to say and what not to say.

—The writer is President of The Entrepreneurs’ Organisation — UAE Chapter.